Tempered Glass Panels

[John_C]

Following the suggestion on John's Sunroom/Greenhouse page I went in search of the slightly damaged tempered glass panels.  No luck at all.

Then I was poking around in one of the big box building supply stores and asked about replacement glass panels for the storm doors that they sell.  Low e  replacement panels were quoted at approx.  $60.00.  This would be about a 32"  x  76"  panel.

Does anybody know anything about these glass panels? They don't seem to be as thick as some I've seen.  Could they be framed into a sunroom wall?  

[glenn kangiser]

I would say, no reason not to.  I have every kind of door glass panel in my greenhouse - given to me free by the local glass shop.  They were mostly leaking takouts - slice the rubber away with a razor knife and there are two good panels ready to use as singles or build your own dual pane as per the Charlie Wing book.

[OldDog]

My intention is to use 1 pane from a slider as a window in my loft dormer.  It should make a nice big, cheap window.

[John Raabe]

A low-e panel with new seals for $60 seems like a good deal to me. My "seconds" panels (not low-e) were $30 each in 1982. The seals on these panels lasted an average of 20 years, new seals are better and should last longer.

As you can probably guess from a quick calculation there are still some old panels that need to be replaced in my sunroom  

The best overall thickness for energy efficiency would be 1/2" to 7/8" but the low-e coating will more than offset the gain of the wider airspace if the dual glazed panel is thinner than ideal.